For North Carolina State Parks, 2011 was a great year. Over 14 million people visited the parks. And I certainly did my part.

Because of my Mountains-to-Sea trek, I visited Hanging Rock State Park, Eno River State Park and finished at Jockey's Ridge. I also took my granddaughter camping at Lake Jordan and the family to Mt. Mitchell. Actually my whole MST hike was in a state park.

Surprisingly, Jockey's Ridge had the most visitation. Maybe it's because it's close to several National Park units - Cape Hatteras, Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh.

The experts gave lots of reasons as to the increased popularity of our state parks. The poor economy means that people are staying closer to home. State parks are for the most part free.

But state parks are also perceived as the safest place to go outdoors. They specialize in soft-core adventures. So their trails are well-marked and well-maintained. Signs are accurate and up-to-date. State Park rangers offer a lot of programs for the family. And if anything is up to snuff, they close the particular resource.

In Western North Carolina, hikers are sometimes guilty of ignoring state parks. They're so small and "wimpy" compared to National Parks and Forests. But for most people, in and out of North Carolina, state parks is their access to nature.

 You can look at the attendance figures at 

http://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/photos/photos/NONDPR_2012/01/17404.jpg

Chimney Rock State Park is growing - slowly.

The state's purchase of land around Rumbling Bald Mountain will expand Chimney Rock State Park by more than 20 percent.

The N.C. Council of State will pay the Nature Conservancy $4.2 million for 1,222 acres at Rumbling Bald, which is just north of Chimney Rock in Hickory Nut Gorge.

The tract includes Rumbling Bald Mountain, with its massive rock face visible from Lake Lure, steep cliffs, granite domes and a mature hickory forest. The state park now comprises more than 5,700 acres.

This sounds wonderful but it's going to take a long time. The master plan for Chimney Rock State Park calls for development of three day use areas in phases over the next 20 years. The Rumbling Bald area, which has a great hike and is also popular with rock climbers, is to be developed in phase three.

Twenty years! And there are always delays.

Sometimes a hike is just a hike. No agenda, nothing to check out or scout or write about. So Wednesday, after it had rained hard for a couple of days, I went on a Carolina Mountain Club hike to Mt. Mitchell.

The drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway was through a sea of color, awash with yellow, brown, green, red and other parts of the spectrum. Only five people had ignored the weather and started the bushwhack up Potato Knob. We walked on the Boundary Trail, an unmaintained trail that must have been maintained at some point since it had a name. It was slow going but the rewards were worth it. See the picture above.

We came out on a private road near Clingmans Peak with its transmission towers. The field also had two private cabins. No one was sure who the cabins belonged to but some thought that the transmission towers were for a religious radio station in Black Mountain. Whoever wrote the  sign on the cabin couldn't even bother to spell "mountain" correctly.

We came out on the road at the ranger station and continued on the Old Mitchell Trail.

It was steep and wet with precarious footing. But we got to the top of Mt. Mitchell without driving or being driven in a golf cart by a ranger.

The folks that were driven all got out of the golf cart and proceeded to walk up the ramp with no problems.

We went down the MST and Buncombe Horse Trail back to the cars, still congratulating ourselves for making the right decision to get out on the trail. 

Why would any hiker want to leave Western North Carolina? We have the highest mountains in the east and the best parks and trails.

But this past weekend, 17 Carolina Mountain Club hikers stayed at Unicoi State Park outside of Helen to hike in three North Georgia State Parks.

On Friday, we hiked the Edmonds Trail in Black Rock Mountain SP. The park is touted as the highest state park in Georgia, reaching a high of 3,640 feet. I know, some of you live at a higher altitude. But as we gazed out at the top of Lookout Mountain on the trail (only 3,162 ft.), we realized that it's not the absolute height that counts. It's the drop into the valley that counts - and it was impressive. See the top photo.

We then drove to Unicoi and checked in. Lenny and I and a few others camped while the rest of our group had rented cabins. Like most state parks, at least in the south, the campground was impeccable - tent site, picnic table, fire ring which we used to make a fire to go with our pot luck dinner on Friday evening.

The next day, we hiked up to Raven Cliffs Falls in the Chattahoochee Forest. I had gotten this recommendation from Jim Parham who wrote the book Waterfalls Hikes of North Georgia, published by Milestone Press.

The trail hugged the creek and passed several good waterfalls before ending at an impressive rock and cave. See the picture to the right.

The falls are in the slit between the rocks and doesn't show too well in the photo but was very obvious in real life. I'm sure that better photographers - especially photographers willing to spend the whole day there - would have gotten a different photo.

We walked into Helen, a mountain town, that made up a Bavarian theme to attract tourists - and it worked. This was Octoberfest in Helen and the people spilt over the sidewalk into the street carrying beer mugs on a string around their necks. I settled for a frozen yogurt.

By Sunday, some of our group left, others went to do their own hike. But for those who stayed, we were rewarded with an amazing walk in Tallullah Gorge State Park.

This park, created to highlight the waterfalls in the gorge, is partly (mostly??) funded by Georgia Power. The interpretive center is outstanding, the trails are manicured and the 1,052 steps that we walked were solid.

Sunday, yesterday, was also my birthday - a big, eventful birthday. As I climbed up the steps, I passed several people stopped on the steps huffing and puffing; they were all younger than my son. I really resisted saying to them - "Hey what are you going to be like when you're my age?"

The three parks were worth the weekend but Tallullah Gorge is worth another trip. It's a two-hour drive from Asheville but if you're going to walk the whole loop, including the steps, it may be worth the drive.

I took my granddaughter camping this weekend at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area. It was the easiest, tamest type of car camping there can be but it was quite an adventure for both of us. It was her first camping trip and it was the first time I camped just for the sake of camping since her father was her age - eight years old.

It didn't matter where we went but I chose Jordan Lake just outside of Chapel Hill when it was still 90 degree and sweltering. I pictured lots of swimming and I requested a campsite by the lake.

By the time we got there on Saturday, it was 60 degrees and drizzling. We had lunch and put up the tent. She was a great help in holding the tent because I couldn't put it up by myself. When children are given real work to do, they shine and she realized that this was real.

"Let's get the tent up before it really starts pouring.

But it didn't really pour. We hiked on a trail in the Poplar Point campground. A group of kids were in the water and I couldn't really say that she couldn't go. So she put on shorts, a T-shirt over her bathing suit and her water shoes and she played in the water. She lasted 15 minutes and her stuff was still wet the next day.

But camping to her was all about making S'mores and I wasn't going to disappoint her. I'm not good at making a real fire but I bought fire started and charcoal impregnated with lighter fluid. I brought lots of newspapers and of course, the S'mores fixings. This turned out to be a $30 marshmallow roast.

I didn't buy bundles of wood because a bundle was just too heavy. We scavenged around the campsite but the place was well picked over. The fire lasted long enough to toast several marshmallows and make the S'mores. [If her parents are reading this, yes, we did have a real dinner before that - backpacking pasta primavera.]

It drizzled on and off all night but it was dry by the time we got up. The tent was soaked but it had stopped raining.

As we broke camp, a female ranger drove past and waved. I asked her to stop and have Hannah meet her. I didn't catch her name but the ranger made a great impression on her. The ranger explained that she carried a gun but that they send you for all types of training. She was a good, attractive role model.

We bundled up and went on a longer hike at another campground at Lake Jordan.

As with most state parks, the trail was well marked. She's a motivated walker but everything interests her. She counted rings on a tree stump. She marveled at every mushroom - and with this rain there were lots of mushrooms. She was upset (and so was I) about the garbage left by boaters on the beach. 

Like most newbies, she overdressed first thing in the morning. By midmorning, she was in a T-shirt and had partially unzipped her pant legs. I excused her from carrying a pack and I was carrying her entire wardrobe, it seemed.

But she liked it all, even with the rain and the anemic fire. Next time, we'll try another North Carolina State Park.

Not every hike is a 10 mile all-day hike. My son, daughter-in-law and two granddaughters are visiting us for a few days.

Lenny corralled our son, Neil, to help clear our piece of the Appalachian Trail. I took Yi-Ting and the two girls to Mt. Mitchell. We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping regularly to look at the views.

We stopped at Craggy Garden Visitor Center so Hannah could stamp her National Park Passport. You would think that the Blue Ridge Parkway would have one stamp for the whole BRP unit, but it seems that all the visitor centers have their own. Great Smoky Mountains National Park also has different stamps at the various visitor centers. That makes for more stamps - at this rate Hannah is going to run out of room in the Southeastern section of her book.

We were lucky that we had an outstanding day. We drove to Mt. Mitchell State Park and walked up to the Mt. Mitchell tower. The little one could have walked up but it might have taken all day. So we pushed her in the stroller. I showed them the Mountains-to-Sea Trail sign and white circles.

Both Yi-Ting and Hannah were impressed by the fact that Mt. Mitchell was the highest point east of the Mississippi. And after visiting Jefferson National Expansion Memorial right on the banks of the Mississippi River, Hannah knows where the Mississippi is.

The tower is about two years. It was built partly to make it easier for people to walk up the short ramp up to the tower.

Still people in flip-flops and sandals complained about the "hike". And one man made a snide remark about my ability to walk fast while pushing a stroller.

The whole site is extremely child-friendly - if you can get the adults to walk up to the tower. Isa, the younger grandchild, ran around in circles at the tower, stopping once in a while to look through the fencing. Hannah used her new compass to check the directions with the compass directions on the floor of the tower.

Even the museum seemed to be childproof. The younger one pushed all the buttons, turned all the cranks and yelled at the bear in the display case without anyone or anything being worst for the wear. Nowadays, you call it child-friendly but I call it childproof.

I've been to Dupont State Forest many times. It has great waterfalls, several lakes and a couple of mountain tops. But I've never been there in the summer. Dupont is a cool-weather destination for us.

But on Sunday, one of the hottest days ever, Lenny and I went to check out a grandchildren-friendly hike at Dupont. Grandchildren-friendly includes several factors:

*  Fun for the 8-year old. Swimming will be fun.

*  A safe place for the 22-month old to run around

*  And most important, easy-enough terrain for our son to carry that 22-month old.

Because we've only been there in the fall or winter, we've never really thought of where we could swim. We headed out to Lake Julia and stopped at Lake Dense. We dismissed Lake Dense because the water got too deep too fast. But Lake Julia had great possibilities.

We walked past the long staircase to the picnic tables. This is where two houses remain from the housing development days.

The clubhouse is falling apart. Look at the roof. What a shame. This building could have been a great training center or a hostel. It had lots of potential. Instead the State is letting it rot. Well, they can't mess up the lake, I hope.

Going back, we took the trail to High Falls. Going down High Falls is traitorous. It's slippery and rocky and I can't see our son carrying a heavy load on his back. Besides, on a hot day, it's filled with people who can't control their dogs and sometimes themselves. So we crossed that off our list.

But the bottom of Triple Falls was great. See the picture on top. You can wade, and even swim a little. It's not that difficult to go down and back up from a side trail off of Triple Falls Trail. The Forest is making some improvements where it will even easier.

Right now a security guard is guarding the entrance to the bottom of Triple Falls. It's a shame that the Forest is so poorly funded that they have to hire temporary private security, rather than having rangers.

But the easiest was Hooker Falls. The parking area was overflowing. It was like Coney Island. People had brought coolers, beach chairs, dogs and even a kayak. They were having a ball.

After considering all the options, we'll probably take them to Lake Julia and back, drive to Hooker Falls parking and walk to the Falls.

But the way we did it, we had to walk back on the road back to our cars. It was hot!

Land for Tomorrow has sent out this action alert.

Urge NC legislators to maintain current funding levels for the conservation trust funds.  
 
The state’s four conservation trust funds are at serious risk in current budget discussions at the General Assembly. These trust funds (Clean Water Management, NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund, Parks and Recreation and Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation) have preserved hundreds of thousands of acres of family farms, forests, stream banks, game lands, parks, greenways and scenic vistas.

If these trust funds seem very theoretical to you, note that these cuts include the NC Parks that administer our beloved state parks.

State conservation funding has already been reduced by almost 50 percent.

Key legislators are considering zeroing out funding for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) and the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (ADFPTF). Now is not the time for further reductions. We need to keep the conservation momentum going. Please contact your legislators today and urge them to maintain current funding levels for CWMTF and ADFPTF. 

You can go to their action page and fill in their form. But a well-written letter in the mail is taken much more seriously.

Starting with  528.25 miles, 84,750 ft. ascent

Hanging Rock State Park to Meadows

11.9 miles, 850 ft. ascent

Egypt, Mubarek, Tunisia … All those problems swirl through my head as I drive to Danbury to walk another section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. I start driving at 7 A.M. and first I hear BBC world Service, then NPR weekend edition. I go from station to station but it’s the same bad news.

But here on the MST, it all seems so far away and irrelevant. I know that people are suffering but they’ve accepted Mubarek for 23 years. Now Egyptian activists caught the bug from the Tunisians.

Sharon, my hiking partner, has decided to bike the road sections of the MST, so we've separated temporarily. I gave up on biking. Sorry - it didn't work out for me. I'm not too proud of that but I like my feet firmly on the ground. So I am on my own for a while. We plan to reunite for the beach section. 

I called Wippoorwill Inn in Danbury and asked if they had someone who could shuttle me. Earl, who owns the inn with his wife, suggested Gabriel, his stepson. I get to the Inn at about 10:30 A.M. and Gabriel shuttles me to Hanging Rock State Park, where Sharon and I left off last March.

Gabriel is a naval reservist in his 20s. Right now, he’s waiting for an opportunity to train as an EMT but he doesn’t have a job. So he’s happy for the extra cash that shuttling will bring him.

We leave my car at a gas station on NC 89 and he drives me to Hanging Rock State Park Visitor Center. He leaves me in the parking lot close to the Indian Creek Trailhead.

I start down the trail past two shelters and a picnic area and follow the trail to Window Falls. See the photo above. There’s an overlook to the falls, then the trail continues to the bottom of the falls. Before I get to the falls, I pass a sign warning of serious injuries and death by waterfalls. It’s a standard State Park sign.

Warning This area contains hazards associated with water, rocks and cliff faces. Serious injury or death possible.

What if they said, “Welcome to your state park. Don’t climb up the waterfalls.”

The trail keeps descending and I meet several groups with dogs going up. It is a beautiful Sunday. The forecast is of 60 degrees. What a great start.

The trail ends in less than two miles. I walk out the park on Hanging Rock Rd. The road has steep ups and down. We’re in the Piedmonts, which means foothills in French, not on the flat.    

The road winds up and down and I keep crossing the road so I can have some room to walk on the side of the road. I wave to everyone, not a one-finger wave popular in the Appalachians or a limp wave like the queen mother. My wave is hard and energetic, so that cars can see me.

The road enters Danbury and passes the bank, library, the county courthouse and several churches. The faded sign says:

Welcome to Danbury, established 1849. Gateway to the mountains. National Historic District.

Danbury is a one main street town, cute and very spread out. But historic?  The churches are small and boxy, not the elaborate Catholic or Episcopalian churches that I associate with historic. 

Walking out of town, I stop at the Danbury General Store and Grill with a couple of gas pumps in front. I buy an ice cream sandwich and show the clerk the listing for her store.

“I knew there was a trail but I didn’t realize that there was an actual route,” she says.

“You need a guidebook or you wouldn’t know where to go.”

If the last section west of Dobson, was a hike from church to church, this section takes me from gas station to gas station. Gas stations are useful on the road. They’re the place for trail breaks, occasional snacks and most luxurious, garbage cans. I throw my ice cream bar wrapper at the next gas station.

NC 89 is a mecca for motorcycles; two wheelers, three wheelers, riders alone, riders in packs. They pour out of side roads like creeks flowing into a river. Some riders honk at me in solidarity. They're taking advantage of the golden weather.

Clear Springs Primitive Baptist Church established about 1770 is a small white manufactured building with a huge cemetery. Obviously the building doesn’t date back from 1770. The congregation may have had a wooden building that burned down.

The road has an assortment of buildings from broken down wooden shacks and trailers to substantial manufactured homes and a few brick houses. Weeds cover up some small shops.

I arrive at Whickers Grocery where I left my car. Scot Ward, who wrote the guide book I'm following, called it a “must stop” with very cool people. So I introduce myself as an MST hiker to Kala, the owner’s daughter. She had met Scot and walked with him to the Walnut Cove library. She thought he was “cool” as well. I confess that I've spoken to him on the phone and emailed but have not yet met him.

“I’m not as cool as Scot,” I say, “but would you be interested in walking to Stokesdale with me tomorrow? It's about 14 miles.”

We exchange phone numbers and she says "I might.”  I get this feeling that there’s not much to do in this area. Gabriel had told me that Winston-Salem is the place for young people.

Is this a dry county? I have not seen a bar. I wonder if Gabriel might want to walk with me one day. Maybe I should introduce Kala to him. They’re both attractive and look to be in the same age bracket.

Earl, the inn keeper, drives up as I get back to the Inn. He shows me around the Inn. The place is huge with a large sitting room, kitchen and dining room and two bedrooms.

The inn is on a small back street opposite an abandoned jail, the fire station and a “pretrial release and district resource center.” While I waited for Gabriel this morning, I saw two teenage boys and an older man go inside. It sounds like a detention center for wayward boys.

For dinner I drive up to the Dan River Family Restaurant, the only place in town. The menu is almost all fried food but I have spaghetti with meat sauce, cole slaw and pinto beans. It’s a lousy place but the only place that’s open in the evening. Is country cooking a code word for "fried"?

I settle down to watch Downton Abbey on PBS and discover that somehow, the TV at the Inn doesn’t have PBS. Can someone tell me what happened on Sunday evening?

Cumulative after Day 46, 540.1 miles, 85,600 ft. ascent

It's warmer in upstate South Carolina. And though they had a great deal of snow this past storm, most of it has disappeared by now. The Carolina Mountain Club's Wednesday hike went down to Paris Mountain State Park.

Several streams were dammed to create Greenville's water supply in the late 19th Century. Our destination was North Lake, shown above. Like all South Carolina State Parks, the trails are well-maintained and well-signposted. The walking is pleasant, if not exciting but just being outside under a perfectly blue sky was wonderful.

Coming back, we passed Mountain Lake, another dammed lake - see below.

This lake had a turret, really a building to control the water flow. We took our group picture there, courtesy of two guys who had walked to the dam and were just hanging out.

The picture to the left is of Mountain Lake, a long lake still full of mushy ice.

The Park dates back from the Civilian Conservation Corps days. The bathhouse, now its visitor center, was built by the CCC of stone and timber.

In the summer, Paris Mountain is very hot; it's only at 1,000 ft. altitude but now it's a great hiking spot.

Dupont State Forest in snow was a wonderland yesterday.

The Carolina Mountain Club hike was scheduled to go to Jones Gap State Park in South Carolina but the park was officially closed. So our wise leader took us on a short hike to Dupont.

We walked in the snow for about three and a half hours - not much for an all-day hike. But hiking in the snow is arduous. We tried to walk in each other's footsteps so as not to posthole each time.

High Falls, pictured left, was magical in the snow.

The future visitor center, above, seems ready to go, though it wasn't open.

So was Lake Dense, a small lake that's out of the way. The patterns in the ice were a mystery.

What caused these patterns?

Any idea?

The weather forecast is predicting another snow "event" this coming week. I'm glad we got out.